On a day like today...kids stuff

That's sort of a cryptic title (which I hate) but I couldn't think of anything better.  Since it's all in the 30's and raining and sleeting (it was in the 50's yesterday and supposed to be back in the 50's tomorrow...what the what?!), I've hunkered down and decided to not brave the elements for any reason.  Did go to the grocery store, which was necessary, but nothing else is really vital so no use going out in such cruddy conditions.  Filed my and M & D's tax returns, so there's one good thing about lousy weather:  it makes you do the crap you hate doing when it's remotely nice outside.

So back to the title, I was thinking about what I could write about next and thought I could share some of the silly things I did and thought when I was a kid.  I guess we all have childhood memories like this but, for some reason, we don't often talk about them (or at least I don't).  They don't really fit into normal conversation, I guess.  Anyway, don't know what exactly made me think of these moments but they are kind of unusual and I'm also wondering if anyone else had similar experiences...

My favorite show when I was little was "I Love Lucy."  I still love Lucy but it's not my favorite show anymore; still in my top 10 though.  Anyway, I think it must have been the only older TV show that I watched or paid attention to because the fact that it was black and white struck me as odd.  It looked different than anything else I watched.  So I surmised that, because it was an older show, the world must have been different back in the 1950's.  That is, the world must have been in black and white too.  Yeah, I thought the people, places, and things were without color and existed in varying shades of black, white, and gray.  One thing I didn't understand, though, was why Ricky and the others were always talking about Lucy's red hair.  As far as I could tell, her hair was sort of a medium gray, darker than Ethel's but lighter than Ricky's; Fred didn't have hair so he didn't count.  It never really occurred to me that this didn't make sense; the analytical skills of a 5 or 6-year-old are not very developed.  I don't remember when I discovered that the Ricardos did not, in fact, exist in a black-and-white universe.  I also don't remember if/when it dawned on me that I used to believe this; I imagine it wasn't some "epiphany" moment though because I feel like that would have stuck with me.



Lucy and Ricky, courtesy of http://www.tvsquad.com/



Lucy and Ricky, as they existed in my child-mind, courtesy of kinescopehd.blogspot.com



Like all kids, I loved stuffed animals and dolls and I remember some of the ones I had distinctly.  I had a white tiger with black stripes that was my sleep companion for many years.  I had a blonde Cabbage Patch Doll named Roxie.  I also remember going to the store (usually Hills') and picking out said stuffed animals and dolls.  Walking down those aisles and perusing the selection, I couldn't help but notice that the less attractive or "cute" animals were larger in number.  I supposed that, because they weren't as aesthetically pleasing, other children didn't want them either.  That made me rather sad.  I thought of these poor, lonely animals who were doomed to be eternally stuck on those shelves and would never have children to hold them and love them.  Clearly, I was a kid with an overdeveloped sense of empathy.  So, every now and then, I would sacrifice my love of a really cute doll or animal and give one of those ugly ones a lucky break.  The only one I can remember specifically is a blue teddy bear.  It was kind of small and plain, I guess, but it looked sad, so I threw it a bone, so to speak.

My friend looked a little like this, but without the white bow.  Courtesy of http://www.myblankeeinc.com/

I don't know whatever became of my blue bear, but I assume, since me and my parents never get rid of anything, it's probably still in my old bedroom, perhaps in the toy chest.  I'm not really pining for him though.  I would be more inclined to find the white tiger with the black stripes.  That was a good lookin' animal!

That's enough for now...later gators!